


I'll see you soon my dear

by Feralforestbastardgoblin



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, F/M, fluff for now, idk what to tag this haha, lots of ocs in here sorry, sorry if they're out of character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-12-09
Packaged: 2021-01-16 20:14:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21277040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Feralforestbastardgoblin/pseuds/Feralforestbastardgoblin
Summary: Katrice takes off on an adventure with the Devoraks to Nevivon, trouble ensues and Katrice and the people she cares about learn a lot more about who she was in the past.





	1. Planning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just the introduction and some fluff nothing too exciting yet

Muriel looked over as the door opened, it was right before sunset, the same time it had opened everyday for the past few months. “Muriel, guess what!” Katrice yelped with an unusual enthusiasm. “Mazlinka is taking Ilya and Pasha to Nevivon they invited me to come with them. They said that they want to take me to Mistoła!”  
“What’s Mistoła?”  
“My home country, haven't I told you?” she asked while settling into a worn armchair to tug her boots off. “It’s a little west of Nevivon.” Ever since their battle with Valdemar Katrice had been slowly remembering more and more. Most of the time after she remembered something she would refuse to bring up what she remembered.  
“Guess not.” Muriel mumbled as he went back to carving the stick in his hand.  
“Oh, I haven’t been back there in a long time.” she said as she peeled off her apron.  
“So you’re going?” Muriel couldn’t keep the hurt out of his voice, his mind flooding with everything else he wants to say. You’re just going to take off on a whim to go to a country you haven't been to in years? You’re going to leave me alone to run off with the Devoraks? He felt annoyed with himself for his thoughts, he should be happy for her.  
“Don’t you think I should?” She chewed on a nail absentmindedly while she sifted through a pile of shirts.  
“Do what you think is best.” his tone of voice gave away his stance on the matter.  
“Oh.” All the enthusiasm had left her voice, he heard the quiet whump of her uniform hit the floor. “Shouldn’t we discuss this?”  
“... I guess we should.” he finally responded, putting the stick and carving knife down and turning to face her. She pulled a lavender sweater on then hopped into a baggy pair of pants. Her pearlescent hair was tumbling out of its pins messily some of the strands even reached the top of her feet.  
“They said that they’re going to leave on wednesday and be gone for about 2 weeks.” she set two mugs on the table and then breezed back to the cabinets to find some tea, Muriel filled the cups with hot water from the kettle that hung over the fire. “What part of it is bugging you?” she asked after a minute of tense silence.  
“Nothing.”  
“Nothing is going to be improved unless you are honest with me about your feelings.”  
“What if something happens? What if you decide you want to stay in Mistoła?... What if you realize that you like Julian or Portia better than me?” he whispered, Katrice rushed to his side and pulled him in a hug.  
“Honey, we’ve fought the devil together and won,” her fingers curled through his thick hair comfortingly “I think I’ll survive a few days of a boat ride with several experienced pirates. If I decided I wanted to stay I would come back and talk to you about it.” She pulled out of the hug and rested her hands on his biceps “And if I liked the Devoraks better than you why would I walk back from the clinic every night to be with you when I could stay at the shop or in the clinic with Ilya? My future is here with you.” He sighed and lightly tugged her into another hug,  
“You should… go if that’s what you want. Sorry.”  
“Thank you for being honest with me, you don’t have to apologize.” She loosened her hug and walked back to her chair. “The trip there and back is going to take about a week, and we are going to spend 4 days in Nevivon and 3 days in Mistoła.”  
“Why are they going to Nevivon?”  
“Just to visit family, it’s been a while since any of us have been back and Nadia offered to let Maz borrow one of her ships.”  
“Your family too?”  
“No.” Her eyes darken and she stares into her cup of tea. “Asra’s my only family.” She has more to say, Muriel could tell by the way her eyes shifted as through reading her unsaid thoughts. She sipped through the rest of her tea in silence then she asked “Did you know that the tea left in your cup is supposed to tell your fortune?”  
“I think Asra told me one time when we were younger.” he responded Katrice stared into the bottom of her cup for a moment longer.  
She stood abruptly from the table, “I think I’m going to go to bed now. Don’t take too long to join me, love.” she pressed a gentle kiss to Muriel’s forehead. The sun had not fully set yet  
“Did you eat dinner?” Muriel asked after a moment, her head popped out from under the blankets she looked exhausted, maybe this trip will give her a much needed break.  
“No, I think I’ll just have a big breakfast, I’m so tired”  
“I’ll take care of dinner just rest.” She sat up and scooted to the edge of the bed “Katrice, please, just... let me do this for you.”  
“Can I have a kiss, dear?” Muriel walked over to the bed and Katrice stood on tiptoe to make it easier for him to kiss her, he rested a hand on her shoulder,  
“Just relax and try to go to sleep I’ll wake you up when the food is done.” She plopped back onto the bed,  
“Are you sure you don’t want me to help?” She looked up at him with big pink eyes making him melt a little inside.  
“Never been more sure of anything in my life.” He bent over at the waist to press another kiss to her lips then set about cooking stew. After he filled a bowl up with the soup he sat down on the bed next to her. As soon as he sat on the edge of the bed cold arms wrapped around his waist.  
”Maybe I’ll just stay here, I think I’d miss you too much if I left.” He handed her the bowl of stew.  
“I think that you should go, you need a break.” The arms around his waist pulled away and Katrice pressed a kiss to his back as she took the bowl from him. She rested her head on his shoulder for a moment before sitting upright and beginning to eat.  
“Maybe you’re right when is the next time I’m going to get this opportunity.”  
“Can you take the day off tomorrow? I uhh” want to spend time with you before you leave “Think you should take some time to sleep and get ready before your trip.”  
“Ya, I’m sure Ilya won’t mind.” She took a big spoonful of stew then stood up to rummage through the shelf that has become piled high with papers and books. After a minute of fussing through the shelf she found a blank piece of paper and a dip pen then scribbled out a note. Katrice opened the door and whistled into the forest something Muriel couldn’t quite see fluttered onto her outstretched arm after a moment of Katrice’s quiet murmuring he could hear the beat of wings and Katrice slid back into the house. They finished their dinner in a comfortable silence cut only by the crack of the fire and the scrape of spoons on bowls, then retired to bed together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so I was trying to edit this chapter and i messed the formatting up a little i think it's fixed but sorry if it looks weird


	2. Farewell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this is probably gonna be the shortest chapter its just Katrice leaving

Muriel smiled as he stretched out, the sweet scent of oatmeal hung in the air, giving him a pleasant awakening. Katrice was bustling about the little hut preparing to leave although she wouldn’t be gone until the next day. The memory that she would be gone for the next two weeks starting the next day soured his mood a little bit, he had begun to enjoy her company quite a bit. She glanced at him after hearing the rustle of the furs, she gave him a bright smile and swept over to him to press a kiss to his forehead. “I made breakfast.”  
“Thanks.” he sat up and cracked his back before settling down at the table.  
“I’m worried about leaving the clinic unattended.” She confessed as she dumped a stack of clothes into the suitcase.  
“There’s other clinics.”  
“Yes, but most of the people in the south end can’t afford to go to other clinics.”  
“They survived before...things over there have been better recently.” She gave an appraising hum at his response.  
“You’re right I guess.” Then under her breath, she muttered “Not saying much considering the state it was in when we set up the clinic.”  
After Muriel finished his breakfast they carried on with a relatively average day off. Doing chores together then settling down with their hobbies in near silence. At sunset, they collapsed back into bed calling their peaceful days to an end.  
Muriel woke to a nudge in his side, “Are you going to walk me to the docks?”  
“Yeah,” he mumbled into her hair, pulling her closer.  
“We should get up.”  
“Yeah,” Katrice giggled then pushed herself out of bed. Muriel grabbed her waist gently to pull her back to bed. “We have time.”  
“Only a few more minutes.” She yawned as she burrowed back under the blankets.  
Muriel begrudgingly got dressed and followed Katrice out into the crisp morning. She leaned slightly to the left under the weight of her suitcase, her right hand clasped with his. “Do you want me to carry that?”  
“Yes please.” she handed it to him then dragged her unoccupied hand into Inanna’s fur followed by doing the same to Anastasia’s wool. They reached town much too early for Muriel’s liking, Katrice gave his hand a reassuring squeeze as they slipped through backstreets and alleys. The docks were unusually busy for this time with preparations for their trip.  
“Good morning!” Julian cried slipping off the dock to come greet them.  
“Good morning Iyla.” Katrice responded. “How long till we will be leaving?”  
“Well, let’s see, now that you’re here probably pretty soon. Just gotta get the crew on board. I’ll show you your quarters.” Julian took the suitcase from Muriel.  
“Go ahead I’ll catch up in a second.” He gave an energetic nod then bounded off, Katrice turned to Muriel and wrapped her arms around him. “I’m going to miss you.” She murmured into his cloak.  
“I’ll miss you too. Have a good time, stay safe...please…”   
"I'll see you soon, my dear." Her arms slipped away and she gave Inanna another scratch then ran off after Julian with Anastasia at her heels. She turned back to give one last wave to Muriel before tripping and falling into Portia.


	3. Overwhelming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things don't go according to plan, do they ever though?
> 
> hnnmmhmmnnhhh i feel like I can't edit this chapter enough

Nadia rubbed her temples, “Please tell me again slower this time.” Julian and Portia began simultaneously blabbering too fast to understand.  
“Oh hell, Julian you talk first.” Mazlinka snapped, Portia sat next to Nadia and began wringing her hands while Julian paced behind the couch they were sat on. “Well um to make a long story short Katarzyna got arrested for murdering the king who has been dead for the past eight years, then some pirates raided the jail she was in and took off with her.”  
Muriel’s knotted stomach dropped. He knew something was going to end up going wrong.  
“You’re telling me within two days of being in Nevivion you already lost Katrice?” Asra snapped from beside Muriel.  
“There’s more. Apparently she was married to that king at the time of his death. We visited her in jail and she seemed pretty upset the only thing she said was ‘I did it’. After we walked out of the jail some lady ran up to us and asked if we were a friend of hers. We talked for a little bit apparently it was Katarzyna’s former head doctor, she said that a lot of people would still be loyal to her. She was overthrown about a year after his death by some noble from nearby place apparently.” Portia added.  
Nadia got a pained look on her face before saying,  
“Oh yes, I remember now, Evgeni was his name I believe, young and freshly orphaned. His attitude was worse than Lucio’s if that’s even possible.”  
“Katarzyna doesn’t seem like the type to rush into something especially not something like marriage.” Portia thought aloud. “And I definitely never thought she could murder anyone.”  
“Katrice used to be a lot different, but she never told me about getting married. She was away from Vesuvia as much as she could until the plague came though.” Asra murmured, Muriel had never heard of her marriage either.  
“ I believe his pick up line was ‘Queen Consort Katarzyna has a nice sound to it’. She wanted to get away from Lucio without losing any of her status or power.” Nadia said, “I tried to warn her, apparently we both have a fatal flaw for ignorant powerful men.” She looked disappointed and vaguely tired almost as if she were still trying to warn the stubborn teen that Katarzyna used to be.  
“The past is the past, we need to help Katrice now,” Muriel said.  
“The boy’s right, what’s the plan? I’ll captain the boat back to Nevivion and we can see if she’s around there somewhere.” Mazlinka chimed in.  
“Well, I suppose I can set up a watch on the coast and write a letter to Pakra asking them to keep a watch out for any suspicious cargo,” Nadia said.  
“Oh, this is all my fault I should have been more careful.” Julian croaked.  
“ How were any of us supposed to know that Katarzyna was wanted for murdering a king years ago, don't beat yourself up about this.” Mazlinka scolded.  
“Katrice is a strong woman I’m certain she will be fine but the sooner we find her the better. I agree with Mazlinka though I think that it is a good plan to see if she is back. From the sounds of it, she was a popular enough ruler, I’m sure that if the pirates went through the trouble of breaking her out of jail that means they liked her. If they wished her harm it would have been easier to wait for her to be executed.”  
“Who should I be taking with me?”  
“I’ll go.” Muriel volunteered begrudgingly, none of this was anything close to comfortable for him. Julian agreed to come too, Nadia obviously had obligations to stay in Vesuvia, Portia wanted to stay and help with watching the coast and Asra wanted to stay in case she came back to the shop. 

Muriel’s stomach heaved as the boat rocked about, maybe that was the cause of his nausea but more likely it was the overwhelming anxiety about both leaving his home and the possibility of Katrice being in danger. Inanna did her best to reassure him but the constant movement of the boat and the constant ruckus of the crew and equipment left him feeling overwhelmed. He sank onto the bed and buried his face into the pillow, the peppermint perfume that she used still clung faintly to the bed. Inanna pressed her nose to his shoulder “Okay? “ she asked her voice filled with concern.  
“I don’t know.” The boat dipped heavily and something in the room thumped. He jerked up and looked about the room, Katrice’s suitcase was laying on its side probably knocked over by the waves. His heart clenched at the reminder of the whole reason that he was on the boat in the first place. Who knows where she is or what’s happening to her. He flopped back onto the bed and prayed for sleep to come quickly.

The next two days went by slowly until they finally docked into Nevivon. Muriel winced at the bright light of the sunrise as he stepped onto the dock, most of his time on the boat was spent below deck. Almost as soon as they stepped out an unassuming brunette woman was approaching them, she shook Julian’s hand and asked.  
“Doctor Devorak?”  
“Yes, and this is Muriel, Katarzyna’s partner.” He felt his face grow hot as the woman turned her attention to him.  
“Yes, excellent.” She held her hand out for him to shake. “I assume you know her history? Well, either way, we'll get into it later we need to get to Roland’s house.” She took off at a brisk pace. She eventually arrived at a stone house and knocked a unique pattern into the door before walking in. “Roland! Tyrell! Katarzyna’s Vesuvian friends are here!” There was a distant thumping from up the level above then a man came jogging down the stairs while tugging a shirt on. “Where’s Roland?” The man, Tyrell, looked just as battered as Muriel assumed he himself looked. A mesh of scars covered his chest and he could see more poking out from his clothes.  
“Upstairs.” He told the woman, “Who are you?” he snapped.  
“I am Doctor Ilya Devorak and this is Muriel.” His voice was as calm and charismatic as always.  
“How do I know we can trust you?”  
“How do we know we can trust you?” Julian shot back.  
“Answer the question before I throw you out of my house.”  
“Well, how can we prove our trust?”  
“What’s something only a friend of Katarzyna would know?”  
“She started training to be a doctor after her ribs got broken as a child,” Julian answered.  
“She refuses to do anything in the morning until after she stretches. Can we stop wasting time.” Tyrell let out a little chuckle.  
“That kid’s a fool, once during a battle she took a nap in the medic’s tent and popped her stitches stretching when she got up.” he shook his head, “yes let’s stop wasting time now.” He gestured for them to follow and led them to a wooden table after everyone took a seat he started talking. “I think it would be most benefici-”  
“Oh! I forgot! My name is Bibianna!” The brunette woman cried.  
“Ok introductions are finished.” he shot Bibianna an annoyed look “Let’s check Katarzyna’s house and the beach first. We should keep a low profile because King Bence isn’t exactly the fondest of us. I wouldn’t put it past him to throw us in jail now that he remembered a thing to harass us about.” Muriel jumped as a hand patted his.  
“Don’t worry, I’m sure that they’ll bring her back, a lot of people aren’t happy with Bence. Hell, if Katarzyna is like I remember her she’s probably storming the palace taking her throne back right now.”  
“What’s all this?” A gruff voice came from the doorway. A stocky man with a scar cutting across his face barely missing his eye stood in the threshold of the kitchen.  
“Roland, this is Muriel and Julian, Katarzyna’s friends. How about you take Julian and Bibianna and look around the coast for her. I’ll take Muriel and look around her house.” Tyrell gestured to the outsiders as he spoke, Roland nodded and began walking off, Julian and Bibianna jumped up followed after them.  
“Aight, we meet back here at sun high at the latest,” he said as he departed.  
Tyrell stood up and walked outside, “ Katarzyna lived in a little cottage past town.” He informed Muriel, “She liked the peace and quiet out there said some shit about how she couldn’t think with the bustle of the palace.”  
“...”  
“How do you know Katarzyna? I was her consul.”  
“We’ve known each other for a long time.” Tyrell just hummed in response seeming to understand that Muriel was in no mood to talk.  
After a while of walking in silence they ended up at the edge of a field, an overgrown stone trail stretched in front of them leading into an orchard. Tyrell led him along the trail until they reached a nice looking cottage. In a fenced meadow beside the cottage, a small marker sat in the middle.  
“This is Katarzyna’s old place. I would come to take care of her cow and make sure the house wasn’t turning to ruins but the cow died last year, and I haven’t been back since.” sadness tinged his voice. He walked up onto the porch then knocked the same pattern as Bibianna did before, “I haven’t been inside here though, feels too invasive.” There was no answer to the knock. He pushed open the door, the house was dimly lit by a few windows, Muriel followed him in. Her house was ransacked, books and papers were strewn across the ground and a spray of dry blood covered the walls and messy bed. A small kitchen in the corner stank of rot.  
“What happened?” Muriel asked, Tyrell opened his mouth to respond but before he could say anything a freezing burst of wind stopped them both in their tracks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> update 7/17/2020 I'm currently working on rewriting the chapters I've posted so that they're less shitty and continuing to write the story


End file.
